These Penguins are Great!
I settled in with the penguin several months ago when I decided to put up this Red Hat webserver. However, this webserver is just that, a server. I don’t use it as a desktop… it’s strictly an HTTP server. I’ve been itching for a different operating system for a while now. Currently, I run Windows 2000 and XP Pro at work and Windows XP Pro at home. I’m tired of Windows. Years ago, I used to have a Mac (LC II). I loved it, until it was obselete. Then after college, I moved to OS2 with Windows emulation (yeah, the company I was working for just didn’t get it… I remember a paper memo the CIO sent out stating that the “Internet was a passing fad” and that it was not going to be “an important technology in business”). Then after a few years, I was living in a Microsoft world. It was cool for a while. But now, I’m itching for something more.
So, since I don’t have any other machines to play around with and don’t care to pump money into Apple for one of thier spiffy looking Macs, I’ve decided to take the poor man’s approach to making a “Switch”… I decided to take the Knoppix route.
Knoppix is a Linux distrubution that’s bootable from a CD-ROM. All you have to do is download the ISO image from their website, burn it to a CD, then boot your machine from that CD. The amazing thing is it boots faster than Windows 2000 on my laptop. Most of the software I need is already installed and configured… even Wi-Fi support works the first time I turned it on! And if you’re itching to add other apps or change the config a bit, you can store your configuration onto another device like a compact flash card (which I already happen to have for my laptop).
This is definitely the poor man’s approach to making a switch, but the nice part is I don’t have to dump $2,500 USD for a 15″ PowerBook and have to regret it later when it’s obselete. Computers are like cars. They depreciate the minute they come of that showroom floor.